Method and apparatus for multiple carrier utilization in wireless communications

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus for multiple carrier utilization in wireless communications are disclosed. These methods include multiple carrier activation/deactivation, multiple carrier discontinuous transmission (DTX) and discontinuous reception (DRX) activation/deactivation and operations, and multiple carrier acknowledgment/negative acknowledgement feedback. The methods include provisions for joint multiple carrier activation and deactivation and joint DTX and DRX activation and deactivation of multiple carriers.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Nos.61/116,887 filed Nov. 21, 2008 and 61/141,470, filed Dec. 30, 2008,which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This application is related to wireless communications.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communication systems keep evolving to meet the needs forproviding continuous and faster access to data networks. This evolutionis driven by the desire for mobile users to be connected from anywhereat anytime to other users or information networks, for business, leisureor other purposes. In order to meet these needs, wireless communicationsystems may use multiple carriers for the transmission of data. Awireless communication system that uses multiple carriers for thetransmission of data may be referred to as a multi-carrier system. Theuse of multiple carriers is expanding in both cellular and non-cellularwireless systems. A multi-carrier system may increase the bandwidthavailable in a wireless communication system according to a multiple ofhow many carriers are made available. For instance, dual carrier systemsmay double the bandwidth as a single carrier system and tri-carriersystems may triple the bandwidth as a single carrier system, etc. Inaddition to this throughput gain, diversity and joint scheduling gainsmay also be expected. This may result in improving the quality ofservice (QoS) for end users. Further, the use of multiple carriers maybe used in combination with multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO).

By way of example, in the context of Third Generation PartnershipProject (3GPP) systems, a new feature called dual cell high speeddownlink packet access (DC-HSDPA) has been introduced in Release 8 ofthe 3GPP specifications. In DC-HSDPA, the same geographical area iscovered by up to two HSDPA, possibly adjacent, carriers in the sameband. The use of frequency diversity between carriers in the same bandin a DC-HSDPA system improves system performance. With DC-HSDPA, a basestation (which may also be referred to as a Node-B, an access point,site controller, etc. in other variations or types of communicationsnetworks) communicates to a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) overtwo downlink carriers simultaneously. This not only doubles thebandwidth and the peak data rate available to WTRUs, but also has apotential to increase the network efficiency by means of fast schedulingand fast channel feedback over two carriers.

SUMMARY

Methods and an apparatus for multiple carrier utilization in wirelesscommunications are disclosed. These methods include multiple carrieractivation/deactivation, multiple carrier discontinuous transmission(DTX) and discontinuous reception (DRX) activation/deactivation andoperations, and multiple carrier acknowledgment/negative acknowledgementfeedback. The methods include provisions for joint multiple carrieractivation and deactivation and joint DTX and DRX activation anddeactivation for multiple carriers. A method for activating/deactivatingmultiple carriers includes receiving an activation/deactivation message,where the activation/deactivation message includesactivation/deactivation command information and carrier information. Atleast one carrier from the multiple carriers is determined from theactivation/deactivation message and is acted upon with respect to theactivation/deactivation message.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more detailed understanding may be had from the following description,given by way of example in conjunction with the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 shows an example wireless communication system wherein uplinktransmissions are handled using multiple uplink carriers;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of an example wirelesstransmit/receive unit (WTRU) and an example Node-B of the wirelesscommunication system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating two uplink carriersand two downlink carriers;

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating two channels beingcarried in a single downlink carrier;

FIG. 5 is an example realization of sequential activation/deactivationof carriers using high-speed shared control channel (HS-SCCH) orders;

FIG. 6 shows an example embodiment of transmittingacknowledgement/negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) information using asuperposition of modulated signatures;

FIG. 7 is an embodiment of a wireless communication system/accessnetwork of long term evolution (LTE); and

FIG. 8 are example block diagrams of a WTRU and a Node-B of the LTEwireless communication system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

When referred to hereafter, the terminology “wireless transmit/receiveunit (WTRU)” includes but is not limited to a user equipment (UE), amobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a pager, a cellulartelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a computer, or any othertype of device capable of operating in a wireless environment. Whenreferred to hereafter, the terminology “Node-B” includes but is notlimited to a base station, a site controller, an access point (AP), orany other type of interfacing device capable of operating in a wirelessenvironment.

In general, the network may assign at least one downlink (DL) and/or atleast one uplink (UL) carrier as an anchor downlink carrier and ananchor uplink carrier, respectively. In multi-carrier operation, a WTRUmay be configured to operate with two or more carriers or also referredto as frequencies. Each of these carriers may have distinctcharacteristics and logical associations with the network and the WTRU,and the operating frequencies may be grouped and referred to as anchoror primary carrier and supplementary or secondary carrier. If more thantwo carriers are configured, the WTRU may contain more than one primarycarrier and/or more than one secondary carrier(s). For example, theanchor carrier may be defined as the carrier for carrying a specific setof control information for downlink/uplink transmissions. Any carrierthat is not assigned as an anchor carrier may be a supplementarycarrier. Alternatively, the network may not assign an anchor carrier andno priority, preference, or default status may be given to any downlinkor uplink carriers. Hereinafter, the terms “anchor carrier”, “primarycarrier”, “uplink carrier 1”, “first carrier”, “first uplink carrier”and “primary uplink frequency”, are used interchangeably herein forconvenience. Similarly, the terms “supplementary carrier”, “secondarycarrier”, “uplink carrier 2”, “second carrier”, “second uplink carrier”and “secondary uplink frequency” are also used interchangeably herein.

As part of dual cell high speed packet access (DC-HSPA), which alsoincludes dual cell high speed downlink packet access (DC-HSDPA) and highspeed uplink packet access (DC_HSUPA), the followingdefinitions/terminology/assumptions have been introduced and may be usedthroughout this disclosure without limiting the scope of the disclosure.First, a sector is one or more cells belonging to the same base stationand covering the same geographical area. Second, the two carriers havethe same time reference and their downlinks are synchronized. Next, theterminology “anchor carrier” refers to the downlink frequency carrierassociated with an uplink frequency carrier assigned to the WTRU, andthe terminology “supplementary carrier” refers to the downlink frequencycarrier which is not the anchor carrier. The uplink “anchor” carrierrefers to the uplink carrier associated with the downlink anchor carriereither via explicit configuration or by implicit association via thespecific uplink/downlink carrier spacing.

In some embodiments, multiple uplink and downlink carriers may beconfigured for the WTRU. The multiple carriers may or may not beadjacent and may or may not be on the same frequency or radio bandand/or range of frequencies. In one embodiment, the multiple carriersmay include, but are not limited to, any of the following: four downlinkcarriers adjacent in the same band with one or two uplink carriers inthe same band; two pairs of two adjacent downlink carriers over twodifferent bands and two uplink carriers in the respective bands; orthree adjacent downlink carriers in the same band with one or two(adjacent) uplink carriers also in the same band.

The term downlink “anchor” carrier may refer to the downlink carriercarrying downlink control channels such as, but not limited to, afractional dedicated physical channel (F-DPCH), an enhanced-absolutegrant channel (E-AGCH) and others. Other physical channels such as thecommon pilot channel (CPICH), high-speed shared control channel(HS-SCCH) and high-speed physical downlink shared channel (HS-PDSCH) maybe read from any downlink carrier, such as the supplementary orsecondary carriers. When more than one downlink carrier carries downlinkcontrol channels associated with one or more uplink carriers, thedownlink “anchor” carrier may refer to a downlink carrier configuredwith an “anchor” carrier attribute. Alternatively, the term downlink“anchor” carrier may refer to the downlink carrier on which a servingHS-DSCH cell is transmitted. Optionally, if a single downlink carrier isconfigured for the WTRU, then it is the primary downlink carrier.

The following notation may be used throughout. The terms DLn and ULn mayrespectively refer to the n^(th) secondary serving high-speed downlinkshared channel (HS-DSCH) cell (secondary DL carrier) and the n^(th)secondary serving enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH) cell (secondary ULcarrier) for n>0. The terms DL0 and UL0 may respectively refer to theprimary serving HS-DSCH cell (primary DL carrier) and the primaryserving E-DCH cell (primary UL carrier).

In some embodiments, UL carriers may be paired with DL carriers. DLcarriers, on the other hand, may be unpaired (i.e., the number ofconfigured DL carriers may be greater or equal to the number ofconfigured UL carriers). In the case where a DL carrier is paired withan UL carrier, the UL/DL carrier pair may require three different ordersto cover transitions between three possible states of the carrier pair,where state 1 may mean both the UL and DL carriers are activated, state2 may mean both the UL and DL carriers are deactivated and state 3 maymean the DL carrier is activated and UL carrier is deactivated.

In alternative embodiments, a UL carrier may not be activated if theassociated DL carrier is deactivated.

In the case where a DL carrier is not paired (i.e., a DL carrier doesnot have an associated UL carrier), two different orders are required tocover transitions between the two possible states, where state 1 maymean the DL carrier is activated and state 2 may mean the DL carrier isdeactivated.

The embodiments disclosed herein may be used individually or in anycombination. Further, the embodiments disclosed herein may be used incombination with the embodiments described in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/610,284 entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR UTILIZINGMULTIPLE CARRIERS IN HIGH SPEED PACKET ACCESS COMMUNICATIONS” toMarinier et al, and incorporated by reference herein.

FIG. 1 shows an example wireless communications system 100 according toan example embodiment where uplink transmissions are handled usingmultiple carriers 160 and downlink transmissions are handled usingmultiple carriers 170. The wireless communication system 100 includes aplurality of WTRUs 110, a Node-B 120, a controlling radio networkcontroller (CRNC) 130, a serving radio network controller (SRNC) 140,and a core network 150. The Node-B 120, the CRNC 130 and the SRNC 140may collectively be referred to as the Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network(UTRAN) 180.

As shown in FIG. 1, the WTRUs 110 are in communication with the Node-B120, which is in communication with the CRNC 130 and the SRNC 140.Although three WTRUs 110, one Node-B 120, one CRNC 130, and one SRNC 140are shown in FIG. 1, it should be noted that any combination of wirelessand wired devices may be included in the wireless communication system100.

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of the WTRU 210 and the Node-B220 of the wireless communication system 100 of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG.2, the WTRU 210 is in communication with the Node-B 220 and both areconfigured to perform a method wherein uplink transmissions from theWTRU 210 are transmitted to the Node-B 220 using multiple uplinkcarriers 260, and downlink transmissions from the Node-B 220 aretransmitted to the WTRU 210 using multiple downlink carriers 270.

The WTRU 210 includes a processor 215, a receiver 216, a transmitter217, a memory 218, an antenna 219, and other components (not shown) thatmay be found in a typical WTRU. The antenna 219 may include a pluralityof antenna elements or plurality of antennas that may also be includedin the WTRU 210. The memory 218 is provided to store software includingoperating system, application, etc. The processor 215 is provided toperform, alone or in association with software and/or any one or more ofthe components, a method of performing multiple carrier operations. Thereceiver 216 and the transmitter 217 are in communication with theprocessor 215. The receiver 216 and the transmitter 217 are capable ofreceiving and transmitting one or more carriers simultaneously.Alternatively, multiple receivers and/or multiple transmitters may beincluded in the WTRU 210. The antenna 219 is in communication with boththe receiver 216 and the transmitter 217 to facilitate the transmissionand reception of wireless data in a multiple carrier scenario.

The Node-B 220 includes a processor 225, a receiver 226, a transmitter227, a memory 228, an antenna 229, and other components (not shown) thatmay be found in a typical base station or Node-B. The antenna 229 mayinclude a plurality of antenna elements or plurality of antennas thatmay also be included in the Node-B 220. The memory 228 is provided tostore software including operating system, application, etc. Theprocessor 225 is provided to perform, alone or in association withsoftware and/or any one or more of the components, a method ofperforming multiple carrier operations. The receiver 226 and thetransmitter 227 are in communication with the processor 225. Thereceiver 226 and the transmitter 227 are capable of receiving andtransmitting one or more carriers simultaneously. Alternatively,multiple receivers and/or multiple transmitters may be included in theNode-B 220. The antenna 229 is in communication with both the receiver226 and the transmitter 227 to facilitate the transmission and receptionof wireless data.

Embodiments disclosed herein provide several approaches for performingmulti-carrier activation and deactivation, for performing multi-carrierdiscontinuous reception (DRX) and discontinuous transmission (DTX)activation and deactivation, for performing multi-carrier DRX and DTXoperations, and for implementing acknowledgement/negativeacknowledgement feedback for multiple carriers. It is noted thatalthough certain embodiments may be disclosed herein in terms ofdownlink (uplink) or DRX (DTX) scenarios, it should be understood thatthe embodiments disclosed herein are applicable to the uplink (downlink)or DTX (DRX) scenarios.

It is also noted that although the embodiments disclosed herein aredescribed with reference to channels associated with 3GPP Releases 4through 7, the embodiments are also applicable to further 3GPP releases(and the channels used therein) such as LTE Release 8, LTE-Advanced andany other type of wireless communication system (and the channels usedtherein). It should also be noted that the embodiments described hereinmay be applicable in any order or in any combination.

Embodiments to dynamically activate and deactivate supplementarycarriers are disclosed. More particularly FIGS. 3 and 4 show embodimentsfor performing multi-carrier operations. The channels used in FIGS. 3and 4 show the use of specific channels but it is noted that any channelmay be carried in the carriers. Referring now to FIG. 3, in anillustrative wireless communications system, where different carrierscover different geographical areas, a WTRU may be in an area covered bysome of its configured HSDPA carriers but not others. For example inFIG. 3, a Node-B 300 and WTRU 305 may have communications coverage viadownlink carrier 1 310 and uplink carrier 1 315 but not via downlinkcarrier 2 320 and uplink carrier 2 325. It may be noted that theembodiments disclosed herein may apply to any multi-carrier system,regardless of the number of radios included in the receiver/transmitteror transceiver.

Disclosed is an embodiment where the UTRAN may be configured to useHS-SCCH orders to control the activation and deactivation ofsupplementary carriers. Referring to FIG. 4, the HS-SCCH order may be aCH₁ 420 carried by a downlink carrier 1 410 from a Node-B 400 to a WTRU405. In a first example, the HS-SCCH orders control the activation anddeactivation of the supplementary carriers on an individual basis. ThisHS-SCCH order may be configured to carry an indication of which carriershould be activated and deactivated following the order. In analternative example, the HS-SCCH order may be reserved for theactivation and deactivation of all supplementary carrierssimultaneously.

The signaling of an HS-SCCH order may be performed using order type bitsthat are labeled x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3) and order bits that arelabeled x_(ord,1), x_(ord,2), x_(ord,3).

In a first embodiment, the order type indicates anactivation/deactivation order while the order bit indicates the carriersto which the order applies. For example, if the order type x_(odt,1),x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)=‘010’, then the order is an activation order forthe supplementary carrier index indicated by x_(ord,1), x_(ord,2),x_(ord,3). If order type x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)=‘011’, then theorder is a deactivation order for the supplementary carrier indexindicated by x_(ord,1), x_(ord,2), x_(ord,3). The other supplementarycarriers (not indexed by x_(ord,1), x_(ord,2), x_(ord,3)) are notaffected by the order. This approach allows the signaling of up to 8supplementary carriers, but requires two order types. For illustrativepurposes only, if an order type x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)=‘010’and order bits x_(ord,1), x_(ord,2), x_(ord,3)=‘111’ was received, thenthe supplementary carrier associated with supplementary carrier index 7may be activated. Alternatively, if the order type x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2),x_(odt,3)=‘010’, then the order is a deactivation order for thesupplementary carrier index indicated by x_(ord,1), x_(ord,2),x_(ord,3). If order type x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)=‘011’, then theorder is an activation order for the supplementary carrier indexindicated by x_(ord,1), x_(ord,2), x_(ord,3).

In a second embodiment, dynamic switching or activation/deactivation isexecuted if the order type x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)=‘010’. Theorder bits are then examined to determine the proper action andsupplementary carrier. If the order bit x_(ord,1)=1, then supplementarycarrier 1 is activated and if the order bit x_(ord,1)=0, thensupplementary carrier 1 is deactivated. If the order bit x_(ord,2)=1,then supplementary carrier 2 is activated and if the order bitx_(ord,2)=0, then the supplementary carrier 2 is deactivated. If theorder bit x_(ord,3)=1, then supplementary carrier 3 is activated and ifthe order bit x_(ord,3)=0, then supplementary carrier 3 is deactivated.This embodiment uses a single order type and may activate and deactivateup to three supplementary carriers simultaneously.

In another embodiment, the UTRAN transmits an explicit signal foractivation or deactivation of a group of carriers simultaneously. Forexample, a group of carriers may be comprised using any one or acombination of the following methods. In one grouping method, the groupmay comprise of all supplementary carriers in a given frequency band(for the uplink, downlink or both) where the association between thefrequency band and the explicit message may be pre-configured orimplicit based on the frequency band over which the explicit message istransmitted. In another grouping method, the group may comprise of allsupplementary carriers (uplink, downlink or both). In yet anothergrouping method, the group may comprise of all downlink supplementarycarriers associated with a given downlink anchor carrier (whether in thesame frequency band or not). In still another grouping method, the groupmay comprise of all the carriers (uplink, downlink or both) in aparticular frequency band (i.e., deactivate or activate reception of thespecified frequency band). In another grouping method, the group maycomprise of all non-anchor carriers in the downlink, uplink or both. Inanother grouping method, the group may comprise of all of the carriersthat are part of a group of carriers, where the group of carriers is apre-defined list of downlink and/or uplink carriers and the list ofdownlink and/or uplink carriers within a group may be pre-configuredthrough radio resource controller (RRC) signaling upon radio bearerestablishment/reconfiguration or pre-configured at the WTRU. In anothergrouping method, the group may consist of all of the carriers that arepart of a group of carriers, where the group of downlink carriers may bedefined as all of those carriers for which the WTRU is allocated thesame radio network temporary identifier, such as, but not limited to, ahigh-speed downlink shared channel (HS-DSCH)-RNTI (H-RNTI). The examplegrouping methods disclosed herein are applicable for all embodimentsdescribed herein.

Explicit signaling embodiments are disclosed in general and explained infurther detail below. In one embodiment, the explicit signal foractivation or deactivation of a group of carriers simultaneously maycomprise of a new high speed shared control channel (HS-SCCH) order thatis different than an existing order for activation and deactivation of asecondary serving HS-DSCH cell. In another embodiment, the explicitsignal may be an existing order for activation and deactivation ofsecondary serving HS-DSCH cell that is re-interpreted for example whenthe WTRU is configured for multi-carrier operations to indicate not onlyactivation and deactivation of the secondary serving HS-DSCH cell but ofa group of carriers, for example, all supplementary serving HS-DSCH cellcarriers. This example order may apply to carriers that are considered“supplementary” in their respective band. For example, theactivation/deactivation command may not apply to downlink (DL) carriersthat are anchor in a given band.

In another embodiment, the explicit signal may be a L2 or L3 explicitmessage for activation or deactivation of a group of carrierssimultaneously.

For the explicit embodiments disclosed herein, the explicit message mayapply to carriers in the band over which it was transmitted.

For the explicit embodiments disclosed herein, the explicit message mayapply to supplementary carriers that are associated with the same anchorcarrier.

Details for a variety of methods for activation/deactivation of thesecondary carriers implemented on a per-carrier or individual orper-paired-carrier (which may be pre-defined or pre-specified orpre-configured) basis are described below. Multiple HS-SCCH orders maybe used to simultaneously activate/deactivate multiple carriers.

In one embodiment, existing order types used for indicating theactivation/deactivation of the secondary carriers are reused incombination with various order mapping methods to provide anactivation/deactivation order and to indicate targeted carrier (ortargeted paired-carrier) for which the activation/deactivation order isapplicable. For DC-HSPA, for the existing order type x_(odt,1),x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)=‘001’, three bit orders (x_(ord,1), x_(ord,2),x_(ord,3)) are used for activation and deactivation of both UL and DL ofa first secondary carrier. In this embodiment, various order mappingmethods are used in combination with reusing the existing order type(x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3))=‘001’ to individuallyactivate/deactivate the targeted secondary carriers for MC-HSPA wherethere are multiple secondary carriers.

In a first method, a single UL carrier is configured. When a single ULcarrier is configured, three bit orders may fully support theactivation/deactivation of secondary carriers in MC-HSDPA system with upto four DL carriers. One binary order bit may be used to indicateactivation or deactivation of each secondary DL carrier, (order bit ‘1’and ‘0’ may respectively indicate activation and deactivation ordeactivation and activation), and the rest of the order bits mayindicate the index of the targeted secondary DL carrier to which theorder applies, so the individual activation/deactivation of threesecondary DL carriers may only need three order bits. This method may beapplied to MC-HSDPA system with up to K DL carriers. The individualactivation/deactivation of (K−1) secondary DL carriers may need N orderbits, where N is the integer number such that N≧[1+log₂(K−1)]. Themapping between the order bits and carriers may be indicated in anyorder. In one example, different HS-SCCH orders may be sent individuallyto activate and deactivate each downlink carrier as shown by way ofexample in Table 1, which represents the HS-SCCH order foractivation/deactivation of the secondary carriers in MC-HSDPA with fourDL carriers configured. It should be understood that the actualcommand-to-bit mapping may take a different forms than those shown inTable 1. It should also be understood that this concept also applieswhen there are less than four DL carriers. In this case, the orderassociated with activation and deactivation for un-configured carriersis changed to “reserved”. This may apply to all embodiments discussedherein. The actual command-to-bit mappings shown below may be applied ona per-carrier or per-group basis.

TABLE 1 4 DL + 1 UL Order Type Order (x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3))x_(ord,1) x_(ord,2) x_(ord,3) Description of Command 001 0 0 0Deactivation of DL1 0 0 1 Activation of DL1 0 1 0 Deactivation of DL2 01 1 Activation of DL2 1 0 0 Deactivation of DL3 1 0 1 Activation of DL31 1 0 Reserved 1 1 1 Reserved

In a second method, multiple UL carriers are configured. The followingset of embodiments may be for the case where two UL carriers areconfigured, and where the existing three bits, x_(ord,1), x_(ord,2) andx_(ord,3), may be reinterpreted to achieve supplementary carrieractivation/deactivation. Note that the embodiments may also be used whena single UL carrier is configured.

One example embodiment is shown below in Table 2, where each HS-SCCHorder may activate/deactivate a single DL carrier or a paired DL/ULcarrier which may be indicated by one order bit, and the rest of theorder bits may indicate the activation/deactivation order for thetargeted carrier or the targeted paired carriers. If x_(ord,1)=0, theorder is an activation/deactivation order for the paired DL1/UL1carriers. If x_(ord,1)=1, the order is an activation/deactivation orderfor a single DL carrier (i.e., DL2 or DL3). In other words, in order toactivate or deactivate multiple downlink carriers, multiple HS-SCCHorders may be sent by the Node-B. It should be understood that theactual command-to-bit mapping may take a different form than that shownin Table 2, where example HS-SCCH orders are shown foractivation/deactivation of the secondary carriers in MC-HSPA.

TABLE 2 4 DL + 2 UL Order Type Order (x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3))x_(ord,1) x_(ord,2) x_(ord,3) Description of Command 001 0 0 0Deactivation of DL1, Deactivationof UL1 0 0 1 Activation of DL1,Deactivation of UL1 0 1 0 Reserved 0 1 1 Activation of DL1, Activationof UL1 1 0 0 Deactivate DL2 1 0 1 Activate DL2 1 1 0 Deactivate DL3 1 11 Activate DL3

In another example embodiment pre-specified downlink carriers, forexample, DL2 and DL3, may be simultaneously activated or deactivatedusing a single HS-SCCH order, as show in Table 3. In this example, thex_(ord,2) bit is used to indicate activation or deactivation of DL2,whereas the x_(ord,3) bit is used to indicate activation or deactivationof DL3. It should be understood that the actual command-to-bit mappingmay take a different form than that shown in Table 3, which shows anexample HS-SCCH order for activation/deactivation of the secondarycarriers in MC-HSPA.

TABLE 3 4 DL + 2 UL Order Type Order (x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3))x_(ord,1) x_(ord,2) x_(ord,3) Description of Command 001 0 0 0Deactivation of DL1, Deactivation of UL1 0 0 1 Activation of DL1,Deactivation of UL1 0 1 0 Reserved 0 1 1 Activation of DL1, Activationof UL1 1 0 0 Deactivate DL2, Deactivate DL3 1 0 1 Deactivate DL2,Activate DL3 1 1 0 Activate DL2, Deactivate DL3 1 1 1 Activate DL2,Activate DL3

Another set of embodiments may be used where as many as four carriersare configured in the UL. Note that the embodiments may also be appliedwhen a single UL carrier is configured.

As part of one embodiment, activation/deactivation of the second andthird secondary carrier pairs, i.e. DL2/UL2 and DL3/UL3, may be signaledtogether. By way of example, HS-SCCH orders “111”, “101” and “100” maybe used to activate/deactivate UL and DL of second and third secondarycarriers simultaneously. One example implementation is shown in Table 4,which shows an example HS-SCCH order for activation/deactivation of thesecondary carriers in MC-HSPA. In this embodiment, if x_(ord,1)=0,Release 9 DC-HSUPA order mapping may be applied to the first secondarycarrier. If x_(ord,1)=1, Release 9 DC-HSUPA order mapping may be appliedto the second and third secondary carriers together. This embodiment maybe applied to the other two combinations, where the first and secondsecondary carriers are signaled together, or where the first and thirdsecondary carriers are signaled together, without considering thebackwards capability to Release 9 DC-HSUPA.

TABLE 4 4 DL + 4 UL Order Type Order (x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3))x_(ord,1) x_(ord,2) x_(ord,3) Description of Command 001 0 0 0Deactivation of DL1, Deactivation of UL1 0 0 1 Activation of DL1,Deactivation of UL1 0 1 0 Reserved 0 1 1 Activation of DL1, Activationof UL1 1 0 0 Deactivation of DL2/DL3, Deactivation of UL2/UL3 1 0 1Activation of DL2/DL3, Deactivation of UL2/UL3 1 1 0 Reserved 1 1 1Activation of DL2/DL3, Activation of UL2/UL3

In an alternate embodiment for 4 DL and 4 UL carrieractivation/deactivation, UL/DL carrier pairs are activated/deactivatedtogether for the second and third secondary carriers using a singleactivate/deactivate command for both UL and DL second carrier and/or asingle activate/deactivate command for both the UL and DL thirdcarriers.

In one embodiment, the HS-SCCH number that may be used to send the orderimplicitly indicates which carrier or group of carriers is targeted. Inone illustrative implementation, if (HS-SCCH number) mod 2=0, then theHS-SCCH order is targeted for first secondary carrier only: 011 meansactivation of both first secondary UL and DL; 001 means activation offirst secondary DL and deactivation of secondary UL; and 000 meansdeactivation of both first secondary UL and DL. If (HS-SCCH number) mod2=1, then the HS-SCCH order is targeted for second and thirdcarriers—011 means activation of both second secondary UL and DL; 001means activation of second secondary DL and deactivation of secondaryUL; 000 means deactivation of both second secondary UL and DL; 111 meansactivation of both third secondary UL and DL; 101 means activation ofthird secondary DL and deactivation of secondary UL; and 100 meansdeactivation of both third secondary UL and DL.

Alternatively, if (HS-SCCH number) mod 2=0, then the HS-SCCH order maybe targeted for second secondary carrier. If (HS-SCCH number) mod 2=1,then the HS-SCCH order may be targeted for first and third carriers. Inanother variation, if (HS-SCCH number) mod 2=0, then the HS-SCCH ordermay be targeted for third secondary carrier. If (HS-SCCH number) mod2=1, then the HS-SCCH order may be targeted for first and secondcarriers. The orders are accordingly applied to these targeted carriersas shown in the example above.

In another example embodiment, if (HS-SCCH number) mod 2=0, then theHS-SCCH order may be targeted for first and second secondary carrier:011 means activation of both first secondary UL and DL; 001 meansactivation of first secondary DL and deactivation of secondary UL; 000means deactivation of both first secondary UL and DL; 111 meansactivation of both second secondary UL and DL; 101 means activation ofsecond secondary DL and deactivation of secondary UL; and 100 meansdeactivation of both second secondary UL and DL. If (HS-SCCH number) mod2=1, then the HS-SCCH order may be targeted for third secondarycarrier—011 means activation of both third secondary UL and DL; 001means activation of third secondary DL and deactivation of secondary UL;and 000 means deactivation of both third secondary UL and DL.

In another embodiment, if (HS-SCCH number) mod 2=0, then the HS-SCCHorder may be targeted for the second and third secondary carrier. If(HS-SCCH number) mod 2=1, then the HS-SCCH order may be targeted forfirst carriers. Alternatively, if (HS-SCCH number) mod 2=0, then theHS-SCCH order may be targeted for first and third secondary carrier. If(HS-SCCH number) mod 2=1, then the HS-SCCH order may be targeted forsecond carriers. The orders are accordingly applied to these targetedcarriers as shown in the example above.

In another illustrative embodiment, if (HS-SCCH number) mod 2=0, thenthe HS-SCCH order is targeted for all carriers in the first frequencyband configured. Likewise, if (HS-SCCH number) mod 2=1, then the HS-SCCHorder is targeted to all carriers in the secondary frequency bandconfigured.

In another embodiment, the carrier or group of carriers for which adeactivation is targeted may be determined based on which carrier theHS-SCCH order was transmitted on. In other words, a deactivation ordermay be sent over the carrier that is to be deactivated. Activationorders, on the other hand, may be sent on any active carrier. An examplerealization is shown Table 5, where DLrx and ULrx correspond to the ULand DL carriers associated with the DL carrier over which the HS-SCCHorder was received. Table 5 shows an HS-SCCH order foractivation/deactivation of the secondary carriers in MC-HSPA.

TABLE 5 4 DL + 4 UL Order Type Order (x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3))x_(ord,1) x_(ord,2) x_(ord,3) Description of Command 001 0 0 0Deactivation of DLrx, Deactivation of ULrx 0 0 1 Activation of DLrx,Deactivation of ULrx 0 1 0 Reserved 0 1 1 Activation of DLrx, Activationof ULrx 1 0 0 Reserved 1 0 1 Activation of DL1 1 1 0 Activation of DL2 11 1 Activation of DL3

Optionally, “100” may be used to deactivate all carriers simultaneously.

In another embodiment, the carrier or group of carriers for which adeactivation is targeted may be determined based on which frequency bandthe HS-SCCH order was transmitted on. In one example, a deactivationorder for all carriers in a given frequency band may be sent over anycarrier of the frequency band that is to be deactivated. Activationorders, on the other hand, may be sent on any active carrier.

Disclosed herein are embodiments where new order types are introduced tosupport activation/deactivation of secondary carriers. In oneembodiment, the number of available HS-SCCH orders may be increased byusing an additional order type. This allows for the addition of moreHS-SCCH orders that may be used in order to activate and deactivate thesecondary UL and DL carriers. In one example realization, shown below inTable 6, order type x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)=‘001’ may be used tosend commands to activation and deactivate DL1, DL2, UL1 and UL2,whereas a new order type x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)=‘010’ may beintroduced in order to activate and deactivate DL3 and UL3. Table 6illustrates an HS-SCCH order for activation/deactivation of thesecondary carriers in MC-HSPA.

TABLE 6 4 DL + 4 UL (backward compatible with Release 9 DC-HSUPA) OrderType Order (x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)) x_(ord,1) x_(ord,2)x_(ord,3) Description Of Command 001 0 0 0 Deactivation of DL1,Deactivation of UL1 0 0 1 Activation of DL1, Deactivation of UL1 0 1 0Reserved 0 1 1 Activation of DL1, Activation of UL1 1 0 0 Deactivationof DL2, Deactivation of UL2 1 0 1 Activation of DL2, Deactivation of UL21 1 0 Reserved 1 1 1 Activation of DL2, Activation of UL2 010 0 0 0Deactivation of DL3, Deactivation of UL3 0 0 1 Activation of DL3,Deactivation of UL3 0 1 0 Reserved 0 1 1 Activation of DL3, Activationof UL3 1 0 0 Reserved 1 0 1 Reserved 1 1 0 Reserved 1 1 1 Reserved

In another embodiment, the order type that is sent as part of theHS-SCCH order may be used to distinguish amongst carriers. In 3GPPRelease 9, order type x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)=‘000’ may be usedto signal commands related to DTX, DRX and HS-SCCH-less operation,whereas order type x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)=‘001’ may be used tospecify activation/deactivation of DL1 and UL1. As part of thisembodiment, a new order type may be defined in order to activate anddeactivate each additional DL carrier (and possibly each correspondingUL carrier). By way of example, x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)=‘010’may be used when signaling activation/deactivation of DL2 and UL2, whilex_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)=‘011’ may be used to signalactivation/deactivation of DL3 and UL3. It should be understood that anyother available order type may be used to signal activation/deactivationof a particular DL and UL pair. The existing order bits, x_(ord,1),x_(ord,2), x_(ord,3), as currently defined for 3GPP Release 9, may bereused for each DL and UL carrier pair. The carrier pairs may then bedistinguished by order type.

In an alternate embodiment, the number of bits in the HS-SCCH orderfield may be increased for activation/deactivation of secondary carriersin a MC-HSPA system with 4DL and 4UL carriers. The additional orderbit(s), e.g. x_(ord,4), may be taken from any of the six bits in thetransport-block size information (x_(tbspb,1), x_(tbspb,2), . . . ,x_(tbspb,6)) field and/or the one bit new data indicator (x_(nd,1))field. It may be understood that the various activation/deactivationorder mapping schemes with three bit order type and three bit order maybe used after increasing the length of order and/or order type by any ofmethods described herein.

In an alternate embodiment, one or two of the HS-SCCH order type bitsmay be re-interpreted as HS-SCCH order bits. By way of example, thex_(odt,1) bit may be interpreted as x_(ord,4), allowing for more HS-SCCHcommands.

In an alternate embodiment, a new HS-SCCH type, for example, type 4, maybe introduced to transmit HS-SCCH orders when the WTRU is configured inmulti-carrier mode. The WTRU configuration may be signaled from higherlayers. HS-SCCH type 4 may be constructed to provide enough order bitsfor activation/deactivation of secondary carriers in the MC-HSPA system.

In an alternate embodiment, a single set (or a combination of sets) ofHS-SCCH orders may be used in sequence in order to activate/deactivateDL and/or UL carriers. An example may be shown with respect to FIG. 5,where a state 505 includes active carriers DL0 and UL0 and a command“001” further activates DL1 in state 510. Moreover, a new set of orders,“101”, “111” and “100”, may be introduced to activate/deactivatecarriers DL2, UL2, DL3 and UL3 in states 515 and 520, respectively. Notethat existing 3GPP Release 9 orders “001”, “011” and “000” may be usedin order to activate/deactivate DL1 and UL1 in this example.Alternatively, “000” may be used in any state in order to return to thebase state 505, where all secondary carriers are deactivated.

Methods for activation/deactivation of the secondary carriersimplemented on a group basis are now disclosed. In another embodiment,it is proposed that groups of secondary carriers be defined such thatsingle activation/deactivation orders may be applied to the entire groupof carriers. The grouping may be determined using any or a combinationof the grouping methods disclosed above.

In these methods, the UTRAN may transmit an explicit signal foractivation or deactivation of a group of carriers simultaneously suchthat the control signaling overhead may be decreased. The signalingmechanisms defined above for individual carrier activation/deactivationmay be applied to the methods for activation/deactivation of a group ofcarriers.

In one example method, a new HS-SCCH order type, for example,(x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)) may be used to signal to the WTRU thatthe activation/deactivation order may be applied to a particular groupof carriers. In this example, order type “010” is used to signal to theWTRU that that the activation/deactivation order may be applied to allcarriers defined in group downlink 1 (GDL1) and/or group uplink 1(GUL1). Table 7 shows an example realization of group-wiseactivation/deactivation using a new HS-SCCH order type for 4DL+2ULcarriers.

TABLE 7 4 DL + 4 UL (backward compatible with Release 9 DC-HSUPA) OrderType Order (x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)) x_(ord,1) x_(ord,2)x_(ord,3) Description Of Command 001 0 0 0 Deactivation of DL1,Deactivation of UL1 0 0 1 Activation of DL1, Deactivation of UL1 0 1 0Reserved 0 1 1 Activation of DL1, Activation of UL1 1 0 0 Deactivate DL21 0 1 Activate DL2 1 1 0 Deactivate DL3 1 1 1 Activate DL3 010 0 0 0Deactivate GDL1, Deactivate GUL1 0 0 1 Activation of GDL1, Deactivationof GUL1 0 1 0 Reserved 0 1 1 Activation of GDL1, Activation of GUL1

In another example method, the group order may be used for thedeactivation of carriers and the activation of the carrier(s) may bedone through individual orders or a per carrier basis disclosed above.For example, the scope of the existing order type “001” with order bits“000” may be an order for all configured carriers. As such, thetransmission of this order by the Node-B may be used to signal thedeactivation of all activate DL and UL carriers.

In another embodiment, a single HS-SCCH order may be used to activateand/or deactivate any of all configured secondary UL and DL carrierssimultaneously. Each HS-SCCH order represented by the order type incombination with the order bit indicates one state for all configuredsecondary UL and DL carriers, and the mapping between orders and statesmay be in any order. Given different carrier configurations such as4DL+1UL, 4DL+2UL, 4DL+3UL and 4DL+4UL, the total number of resultingactivation/deactivation carrier states are respectively 8, 12, 18 and27. This means that 4DL+1UL carriers may be represented by a three bitorder while more than a three bit order may be needed to supportconfigurations with multiple UL carriers such as, but not limited to,4DL+2DL, 4DL+3UL and 4DL+4UL. Note, the above embodiment assumes thatonly secondary carriers may be activated/deactivated by HS-SCCH orders.However, activating/deactivating all configured carriers simultaneouslymay also be applied to the case that the primary DL/UL carriers may beactivated/deactivated.

In the single UL carrier configuration, since the three bit order(x_(ord,1), x_(ord,2), x_(ord,3)) may be available from the currentlyspecified HS-SCCH order, an existing order type (x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2),x_(odt,3))=‘001’ and the three bit order may be used foractivation/deactivation of the secondary carriers. An example is shownin Table 8, where different HS-SCCH orders may be used to indicateexplicitly which carriers may be activated and/or which carriers may bedeactivated. The advantage of this embodiment over the previous one inTable 1 is that a single order may be used to activate/deactivatemultiple carriers simultaneously. It should be understood that theactual command-to-bit mapping may take a different form than that shownin Table 8. Moreover, it should also be understood that the actualcombination of carrier configurations defined for each command may takea different form.

TABLE 8 4 DL + 1 UL Order Type Order Resulting Carrier (x_(odt,1),x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)) x_(ord,1) x_(ord,2) x_(ord,3) ConfigurationDescription of Command 001 0 0 0 UL0; DL0 Deactivate DL1, DL2, DL3 0 0 1UL0; DL0, DL1 Deactivate DL2, DL3; Activate DL1 0 1 0 UL0; DL0, DL2Deactivate DL1, DL3; Activate DL2 0 1 1 UL0; DL0, DL3 Deactivate DL1,DL2; Activate DL3 1 0 0 UL0; DL0, DL1, DL2 Deactivate DL3; Activate DL1,DL2 1 0 1 UL0; DL0, DL1, DL3 Deactivate DL2; Activate DL1, DL3 1 1 0UL0; DL0, DL2, DL3 Deactivate DL1; Activate DL2, DL3 1 1 1 UL0; DL0,DL1, DL2, DL3 Activate DL1, Dl2, DL3

In the multiple UL carrier configuration case, the existing order typeand 3 bit order may not be enough to map the resultingactivation/deactivation carrier states. This may be overcome using oneor any combination of the following methods.

In a first method, a new order type is defined for MC-HSPA. There is 3bit order type (x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)) in the current HS-SCCHorder physical channel, which may represent 8 order types. In Release 9DC-HSUPA, order type x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)=‘000’ and part oforder type x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)=‘001’ are used. New ordertypes may be defined such that more commands may be available to map allresulting activation/deactivation carrier states in MC-HSPA having morethan one configured UL carrier.

For example, to support 4DL and 4UL carriers, 27 resulting carrierconfiguration states may be needed to be commanded by the combination oforder type and order bits. A three bit order type (x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2),x_(odt,3)), which provides seven order types, in combination with athree bit order (x_(ord,1), x_(ord,2), x_(ord,3)) may create sufficientorders. Table 9 illustrates one example of mapping between reserved(available) commands and all resulting carrier configurations states fora MC-HSPA system having 4DL and 4UL carriers. It should be understoodthat the actual command-to-bit mapping may take a different form thanthat shown in Table 9. Moreover, it should also be understood that theactual combination of carriers defined for each command may take adifferent form.

TABLE 9 4DL + 4UL Order Type Order (x_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3))x_(ord,1) x_(ord,2) x_(ord,3) Resulting Carrier ConfigurationDescription of Command 001 0 0 0 UL0; DL0 Deactivate DL1, DL2, DL3, UL1,UL2, UL3 0 0 1 UL0; DL0, DL1 Deactivate DL2, DL3, UL1, UL2, UL3 ActivateDL1 0 1 0 Reserved Reserved 0 1 1 UL0, UL1; DL0, DL1 Deactivate DL2,DL3, UL2, UL3 Activate DL1, UL1 1 0 0 UL0; DL0, DL2 Deactivate DL1, DL3,UL1, UL2, UL3 Activate DL2 1 0 1 UL0; DL0, DL3 Deactivate DL1, DL2, UL1,UL2, UL3 Activate DL3 1 1 0 UL0; DL0, DL1, DL2 Deactivate DL3, UL1, UL2,UL3 Activate DL1, DL2 1 1 1 UL0; DL0, DL1, DL3 Deactivate DL2, UL1, UL2,UL3 Activate DL1, DL3 010 0 0 0 UL0; DL0, DL2, DL3 Deactivate DL1, UL1,UL2, UL3 Activate DL2, DL3 0 0 1 UL0; DL0, DL1, DL2, DL3 Deactivate UL1,UL2, UL3 Activate DL1, DL2, DL3 0 1 0 UL0, UL1; DL0, DL1, DL2 DeactivateDL3, UL2, UL3 Activate DL1, DL2, UL1 0 1 1 UL0, UL1; DL0, DL1, DL3Deactivate DL2, UL2, UL3 Activate DL1, DL3, UL1 1 0 0 UL0, UL1; DL0,DL1, DL2, DL3 Deactivate UL2, UL3 Activate DL1, DL2, DL3, UL1 1 0 1 UL0,UL1, UL2; DL0, DL1, DL2 Deactivate DL3, UL3 Activate DL1, DL2, UL1, UL21 1 0 UL0, UL1, UL2; DL0, DL1, DL2, DL3 Deactivate UL3 Activate DL1,DL2, DL3, UL1, UL2 1 1 1 UL0, UL1, UL2, UL3; DL0, DL1, DL2, DL3 ActivateDL1, DL2, DL3, UL1, UL2, UL3 011 0 0 0 UL0, UL2; DL0, DL2 DeactivateDL1, DL3, UL1, UL3 Activate DL2, UL2 0 0 1 UL0, UL2; DL0, DL1, DL2Deactivate DL3, UL1, UL3 Activate DL1, DL2, UL2 0 1 0 UL0, UL2; DL0,DL2, DL3 Deactivate DL1, UL1, UL3 Activate DL2, DL3, UL2 0 1 1 UL0, UL2;DL0, DL1, DL2, DL3 Deactivate UL1, UL3 Activate DL1, DL2, DL3, UL2 1 0 0UL0, UL3; DL0, DL3 Deactivate DL1, DL2, UL1, UL2 Activate DL3, UL3 1 0 1UL0, UL3; DL0, DL1, DL3 Deactivate DL2, UL1, UL2 Activate DL1, DL3, UL31 1 0 UL0, UL3; DL0, DL2, DL3 Deactivate DL1, UL1, UL2 Activate DL2,DL3, UL3 1 1 1 UL0, UL3; DL0, DL1, DL2, DL3 Deactivate UL1, UL2 ActivateDL1, DL2, DL3, UL3 100 0 0 0 UL0, UL2, UL3; DL0, DL2, DL3 DeactivateDL1, UL1 Activate DL2, DL3, U2, UL3 0 0 1 UL0, UL2, UL3; DL0, DL1, DL2,DL3 Deactivate UL1 Activate DL1, DL2, DL3, U2, UL3 0 1 0 UL0, UL1, UL3;DL0, DL1, DL3 Deactivate DL2, UL2 Activate DL1, DL3, UL1, UL3 0 1 1 UL0,UL1, UL3; DL0, DL1, DL2, DL3 Deactivate UL2 Activate DL1, DL2, DL3, UL1,UL3 1 0 0 Reserved Reserved 1 0 1 Reserved Reserved 1 1 0 ReservedReserved 1 1 1 Reserved Reserved

In a second method, the length of the order may be increased. This maybe achieved by re-interpreting order type as order bits. This willincrease the length of the order bits from three bits to six bits, wherethere are three bits from the order type plus three bits from the order)bit. This may fully support 4DL+4UL carriers. Depending on whetherbackward compatibility is kept with Release 9 DC-HSUPA, order typex_(odt,1), x_(odt,2), x_(odt,3)=‘000’ in combination with a three bitorder may or may not be used for activation and deactivation ofsecondary carriers of MC-HSPA. As noted previously, these were used foractivation/deactivation of DTX, DRX and HS-SCCH-less operation and forHS-DSCH serving cell change in Release 9.

In an alternative method, a reserved new data indicator combined to apart of Transport-block size information may be re-interpreted as anorder type and/or order. As no HS-PDSCH is associated with HS-SCCHorders, a part of the six bit transport-block size information(x_(tbspb,1), x_(tbspb,2), . . . , x_(tbspb,6)) and/or the one bit newdata indicator (x_(nd,1)) may be used or reinterpreted to increase thelength of the order. For example, (x_(tbspb,5), x_(tbspb,6)) andx_(nd,1) may be used to increase the length of order for HS-SCCH type 1.By way of example, if x_(nd,1) is used, then x_(nd,1) may be set tox_(ord,4) for the HS-SCCH order (HS-SCCH type1). By way of anotherexample, if (x_(tbspb,4), x_(tbspb,5), x_(tbspb,6)) are used, then theHS-SCCH order (HS-SCCH type3) may be: x_(tbspb,1), x_(tbspb,2), . . . ,x_(tbspb,6) and set to ‘1,1,1,x_(ord,4), x_(ord,5), x_(ord,6)’. It maybe understood that the re-interpreted bit may be mapped to any bit oforder type or order.

In an alternate embodiment, a new HS-SCCH type, such as for example,type 4, may be introduced to transmit HS-SCCH orders when the WTRU isconfigured for multi-carrier operations, or multi-carrier (MC) mode.This MC mode status may be signaled explicitly from higher layers (e.g.,via RRC signaling). The HS-SCCH type 4 may be constructed to provideenough order bits for activation/deactivation of secondary carriers in aMC-HSPA system.

Disclosed herein are methods for signaling multiple HS-SCCH orders forMC-HSPA. As a HS-SCCH order may be transmitted on any carrier, multipleserving cells may signal multiple HS-SCCH orders foractivation/deactivation for the secondary carriers in MC-HSPA, forexample with 4DL and 4UL carriers, on a per-carrier (or individual orper-paired-carrier which may be pre-defined or pre-specified orpre-configured) basis or a group basis. Different orders may havedifferent order type and order. This method may be applied to MC-HSPAwith more than 4DL and 4UL carriers at the cost of control signalingoverhead.

In another embodiment, the UTRAN transmits an explicit L1 signal foractivation or deactivation of each carrier or independently.

In a first method, the L1 signal comprises a HS-SCCH order that maycarry the activation/deactivation command for multiple carriers. Thismay be implemented for example by mapping some or all of the HS-SCCHorder type bits to a given carrier. The mapping may be configured by thenetwork or may be implicit. Alternatively, this HS-SCCH order may carryonly a single activation/deactivation command in combination to a targetcarrier address. For example, this may be implemented by reserving 2bits of the HS-SCCH order type to indicate one of 4 carriers and theother bit to indicate carrier activation or deactivation.

In a second method, the L1 signal comprises an enhanced dedicatedchannel (E-DCH) Absolute Grant Channel (E-AGCH) with the bit-fieldsre-interpreted to signal simultaneous activation/deactivation ofmultiple carriers. In a third method, L2 or L3 messages are used tocarry the activation and deactivation explicit command.

In another embodiment, carrier activation or deactivation is triggeredby implicit rules at the WTRU. The triggers may be based on any of thefollowing parameters, individually or in any combination. For example,the parameter may be a buffer status such as the total E-DCH bufferstatus (TEBS). It may be the received transport block size on the anchorcell, the power headroom as indicated by in the scheduling information(SI) or the received signal power as indicated or represented by thereceived signal code power (RSCP), received signal strength indicator(RSSI) or other similar measures.

The network may configure different thresholds for these triggers forcarrier activation and deactivation. Once a carrier activation ordeactivation is triggered, the WTRU may perform any of the followingsteps individually or in any combination and order.

The WTRU may signal, using L1, L2 or L3, the carrier activation ordeactivation indication message to the network. The WTRU may include themeasurement and/or the cause that triggered the carrieractivation/deactivation as part of the indication message. The WTRU mayalso include an index to a carrier to activate/deactivate as part of theindication message.

The WTRU may wait for an explicit activation or deactivation commandfrom the network. In one method, if the indication is a deactivation,the WTRU may autonomously deactivate the carrier. In another method, ifthe indication is carrier activation, the WTRU may autonomously activatethe carrier.

Upon deactivation of a supplementary carrier, channel quality indicator(CQI) feedback reporting for that supplementary carrier may be halted.Alternatively, the CQI feedback reporting may be transmitted at a lowerrate. In another alternative, the CQI feedback reporting may betransmitted at a slower rate using L2 signaling, for example, in themedium access channel (MAC) MAC-i header, or L3 signaling, instead ofusing the L1 high-speed dedicated physical control channel (HS-DPCCH).Upon activation of a supplementary carrier, the CQI feedback may beresumed. These CQI actions are applicable to all embodiments disclosedherein.

When multiple carriers are configured in a same frequency band formulti-carrier operation, the carriers may be adjacent or non-adjacent.Adjacent carriers may be spaced by the bandwidth required for aparticular technology. For example, in WCDMA FDD, each carrier may bespaced 5 MHz. Therefore, the carrier frequency of the adjacent carriersis spaced by 5 MHz. In general, when N adjacent carriers are configured,the adjacent carriers occupy an aggregate and continuous bandwidth of Ntimes 5 MHz.

Due to hardware limitations, it may be difficult for some WTRUs tosimultaneously receive and successfully demodulate signals fromnon-adjacent carriers in the same frequency band. The hardwarelimitations may include limitations with respect to filtering thesignals. For multi-carrier operation, when there are more than twocarriers, the carrier activation/deactivation status for a WTRU may needto be restricted in order to maintain or ensure a continuous activatedspectrum.

When having non-adjacent carriers within one frequency band is notsupported by the WTRU, the RRC may not allow for the configuration ofnon-adjacent carriers within the frequency band. Similarly, the Node-Bmay not be configured or allowed to use HS-SCCH orders that may resultin the non-adjacent carriers arising from the deactivation of one ormore configured carriers.

The HS-SCCH order schemes described herein consider both non-adjacentand adjacent carriers scenarios. The methods disclosed herein may alsobe used for the activation and deactivation of multiple carriers withthe restriction of having only adjacent carriers activated. This may bedone by reserving any HS-SCCH order that results in non-adjacentcarriers (i.e., these HS-SCCH orders may not be used or signaled by theNode-B). For example, in MC-HSDPA with 4DL and 1UL carrier case, if 4DLadjacent carriers are configured by assuming they are adjacent in theorder DL0, DL1, DL2 and DL3 without the loss of generality, then theorder “0xx” (“x” can be 0 or 1) in Table 1 may be reserved as only DL3can be activated/deactivated when assuming DL0/UL0 may not bedeactivated. Similarly, the methods used for designing HS-SCCH ordersfor carrier activation/deactivation disclosed herein may be used forfurther optimizing the activation/deactivation of carriers with theadjacent carrier restriction described above.

Further, methods describing WTRU behavior upon reception of aconfiguration message leading to an unsupported carrieractivation/deactivation configuration are disclosed herein. In oneexample, the WTRU receives an HS-SCCH order causing an invalid carrieractivation/deactivation configuration. The WTRU may perform any one or acombination of the following actions when receiving an HS-SCCH ordercausing an invalid carrier activation/deactivation configuration: theWTRU may ignore the HS-SCCH order and maintain its currentconfiguration; the WTRU may ignore the HS-SCCH order and disable allsupplementary carriers in the frequency band with non-adjacent carriers;the WTRU may the HS-SCCH order on the HS-DPCCH; the WTRU may acknowledgethe HS-SCCH order on the HS-DPCCH; the WTRU may negative-acknowledge theHS-SCCH order on the HS-DPCCH; or the WTRU does not acknowledge ornegative-acknowledge the HS-SCCH order on the HS-DPCCH (DTX).

Disclosed herein are embodiments for activating/deactivating DRX and DTXand processing DRX and DTX operations. Methods to configure a WTRU forDRX operations are described below. The WTRU may configured by thenetwork using L3 messaging.

In a first embodiment, the network configures the WTRU with one set ofDRX parameters and the WTRU applies these DRX parameters implicitly forall downlink carriers. In another embodiment, the network configures oneset of DRX parameters per frequency band and the WTRU applies the sameparameters to all downlink carriers in the same frequency band. In yetanother embodiment, the network configures one set of DRX parameters foreach carrier separately. In a further embodiment, the network configuresone set of DRX parameters for each anchor carrier. In this embodiment,the DRX parameters for supplementary carriers are the same as those forthe associated anchor carrier. In the embodiments disclosed herein, asecond set may be configured by the network if the WTRU has more thanone receiver chain.

In still another embodiment, the network configures one set of DRXparameters per group of downlink carriers, where all carriers within thesame group use the same DRX parameters. The groups may be pre-configuredthrough radio resource control (RRC) signaling upon radio bearerestablishment/reconfiguration or pre-configured at the WTRU.Alternatively, a group of downlink carriers may be defined as all ofthose carriers for which the WTRU is allocated the same radio networktemporary identifier. The Grouping methods disclosed earlier may be usedto determine the appropriate groups.

Embodiments related to DRX status upon initialization is disclosedherein. In one embodiment, the DRX for all downlink carriers may bedeactivated when configuring the downlink carriers. Alternatively, thenetwork may pre-configure the DRX status, which may be applied to all oronly a subset or group of the downlink carriers. In another alternative,the network may configure the DRX status to each downlink carrierindividually.

Embodiments for triggering DRX activation and deactivation at the WTRUare disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the network may explicitlysignal the WTRU to activate or deactivate DRX. This activation ordeactivation message may be directed at one particular carrier, or to agroup of carriers. To explicitly signal DRX activation and deactivation,the network may use any of the approaches described above for carrieractivation and deactivation by replacing carrier activation/deactivationby DRX activation/deactivation.

In another embodiment, the WTRU may implicitly activate or deactivateDRX for a subset or groups of carriers. The activation or deactivationtriggers may be based for example on any one or a combination of thefollowing measurements. One measurement may be the downlink activityover a given period of time. Another measurement may be the downlinkdata rate over a given period of time. Still another measurement may bethe reported CQI. Yet other measurements may be the radio powermeasurements such as common pilot channel (CPICH) measurements, RSCP,RSSI, etc. These measurements may be performed on one or over severalcarriers, and may be averaged.

The network may configure a threshold to go into DRX (DRX-in) and athreshold to get out of DRX (DRX-out) based on one or more of the abovemeasurements. When DRX is not active and the actual measurement reachesthe DRX-in threshold, the WTRU may apply DRX on the associated carrieror group of carriers. Likewise, when DRX is activated and the actualmeasurement reaches the DRX-out threshold, the WTRU may deactivate DRXon the associated carrier or group of carriers.

For implicit activation and deactivation of DRX, the WTRU may signal achange of status to the network. Thus, when DRX is activated, the WTRUmay send a message to inform the network of a change of status. Thismessage may include any one or a combination of the followinginformation: the related carrier index or reference; the measurementvalue that triggered the change of status; the cause of change; anactivation time; or the new status.

Disclosed herein are WTRU actions relative to DRX operations uponcarrier activation. Once the WTRU activates one or more carriers, theWTRU may perform any one or a combination of the following actions. Inone method, the WTRU may resume the DRX status of the carrier to thestate it was in before deactivation. In another method, the WTRU mayconfigure the DRX status of the carrier to same status as the anchorcarrier. In yet another method, the WTRU may configure the DRX status ofthe carrier to the same status as the anchor carrier in the samefrequency band. In still another method, the WTRU may configure the DRXstatus of the carrier to the same status as the other carriers in thesame frequency band. In a further method, the WTRU may configure the DRXstatus to “active”. In yet a further method, the WTRU may configure theDRX status to “inactive”. In another method, the WTRU may deactivate DRXfor all carriers. In still another method, the WTRU may deactivate DRXfor all carriers in the same band as the newly activated carrier. In yetanother method, the WTRU may activate DRX for all carriers. In a furthermethod, the WTRU may deactivate DRX for all carriers in the samefrequency band as the newly activated carrier.

Disclosed herein are WTRU actions relative to DRX operations uponcarrier deactivation. Once the WTRU deactivates one or more carriers,the WTRU may perform any one or a combination of the following actions.In one method, the WTRU may activate DRX for all or a group of remainingactive carriers. For example, the WTRU interprets carrier deactivationas a low-activity state transition or as going into a lower power mode.In another method, the WTRU may deactivate DRX for all or a group ofremaining active carriers. For example, the WTRU may interpret carrierdeactivation as a means to save power without a change of trafficactivity.

Disclosed herein are embodiments for processing acknowledgement andnegative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) feedback in HSDPA in multiplecarrier scenarios. In current systems, acknowledgement and negativeacknowledgement (ACK/NACK) feedback in HSDPA with multiple-in andmultiple-out (MIMO) or DC-HSDPA may consist of transmitting apre-defined signature on a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)HARQ-ACK field of the HS-DPCCH. In this method, there is one signatureper possible combination of ACK/NACK/DTX events.

In an embodiment, the ACK/NACK information is transmitted by using asuperposition of modulated signatures as illustrated in FIG. 6. Theremay be one signature per configured carrier. The N signatures may beorthogonal. The ACK-NACK x inputs may take values +1, −1 and 0 torepresent ACK, NACK and DTX, respectively. Alternatively, the values ofACK and NACK may be inverted. In another alternative, the amplitude ofthe ACK and NACK may be configured to different values than unity. Thisconfiguration may also be signaled by the UTRAN.

The result from the summation of all transmitted signature may be scaledby a factor Δ_(MC-ACK-NACK). This factor may be predefined or configuredby the UTRAN. Alternatively, this scaling factor may depend upon thenumber of ACK/NACK transmitted. More power may be allocated to theACK/NACK when more signatures are present simultaneously to compensatefor the potential additional distortion induced in the signal.

In an alternative embodiment, the value of the Δ_(MC-ACK-NACK) scalingfactor may be determined by pre-defined rules based on the number ofnon-zero ACK-NACK values transmitted, Nnz. For example, for eachadditional non-zero ACK-NACK transmitted, an additional Δnz (in dB) isadded to the scaling factor, where Δnz is signaled by the UTRAN orpreconfigured in the specifications.

In a second alternative embodiment, a lookup table mapping the scalingfactor to the number of non-zero ACK-NACKs may be pre-defined orsignaled by the UTRAN.

Although the embodiments disclosed herein for multiple carrieractivation/deactivation and operations are described with respect tomultiple carrier high speed packet access (HSPA) and high speed downlinkpacket access (HSDPA), the embodiments are applicable to systems beyondthese carrier configurations and to other multiple carrier systems.

Although the above is disclosed with respect to HSPA and HSDPA, it isapplicable to any wireless environment. For example, FIG. 7 shows a LongTerm Evolution (LTE) wireless communication system/access network 700that includes an Evolved-Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network(E-UTRAN) 705. The E-UTRAN 705 includes a WTRU 710 and several evolvedNode-Bs, (eNBs) 720. The WTRU 710 is in communication with an eNB 720.The eNBs 720 interface with each other using an X2 interface. Each ofthe eNBs 720 interface with a Mobility Management Entity (MME)/ServingGateWay (S-GW) 730 through an S1 interface. Although a single WTRU 710and three eNBs 720 are shown in FIG. 7, it should be apparent that anycombination of wireless and wired devices may be included in thewireless communication system access network 700.

FIG. 8 is an example block diagram of an LTE wireless communicationsystem 700 including the WTRU 710, the eNB 720, and the MME/S-GW 730. Asshown in FIG. 8, the WTRU 710, the eNB 720 and the MME/S-GW 730 areconfigured to enhance direct link communication security.

In addition to the components that may be found in a typical WTRU, theWTRU 710 includes a processor 816 with an optional linked memory 822, atleast one transceiver 814, an optional battery 820, and an antenna 818.The processor 816 is configured to enhance direct link communicationsecurity. The transceiver 814 is in communication with the processor 816and the antenna 818 to facilitate the transmission and reception ofwireless communications. In case a battery 820 is used in the WTRU 710,it powers the transceiver 814 and the processor 816.

In addition to the components that may be found in a typical eNB, theeNB 720 includes a processor 817 with an optional linked memory 815,transceivers 819, and antennas 821. The processor 817 is configured toenhance direct link communication security. The transceivers 819 are incommunication with the processor 817 and antennas 821 to facilitate thetransmission and reception of wireless communications. The eNB 720 isconnected to the Mobility Management Entity/Serving GateWay (MME/S-GW)730 which includes a processor 833 with an optional linked memory 834.

Although features and elements are described above in particularcombinations, each feature or element can be used alone without theother features and elements or in various combinations with or withoutother features and elements. The methods or flow charts provided hereinmay be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmwareincorporated in a computer-readable storage medium for execution by ageneral purpose computer or a processor. Examples of computer-readablestorage mediums include a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory(RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magneticmedia such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-opticalmedia, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks, and digital versatiledisks (DVDs).

Suitable processors include, by way of example, a general purposeprocessor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, adigital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, amicrocontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) circuits, any other type of integratedcircuit (IC), and/or a state machine.

A processor in association with software may be used to implement aradio frequency transceiver for use in a wireless transmit receive unit(WTRU), user equipment (UE), terminal, base station, radio networkcontroller (RNC), or any host computer. The WTRU may be used inconjunction with modules, implemented in hardware and/or software, suchas a camera, a video camera module, a videophone, a speakerphone, avibration device, a speaker, a microphone, a television transceiver, ahands free headset, a keyboard, a Bluetooth® module, a frequencymodulated (FM) radio unit, a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit,an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit, a digital musicplayer, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser,and/or any wireless local area network (WLAN) or Ultra Wide Band (UWB)module.

1. A method for activating/deactivating multiple carriers, comprising:receiving an activation/deactivation message, wherein theactivation/deactivation message comprises activation/deactivationcommand information and carrier information; determining from theactivation/deactivation message at least one carrier from the multiplecarriers; and acting on the at least one carrier based on theactivation/deactivation message.
 2. The method as in claim 1, whereincarrier information is a carrier index.
 3. The method as in claim 1,wherein the activation/deactivation message applies to a group of themultiple carriers.
 4. The method as in claim 3, wherein the group isdetermined from at least one of all supplementary carriers, allsupplementary carriers in a predetermined frequency band, all downlinksupplementary carriers, all downlink supplementary carriers associatedwith a given downlink anchor carrier, all downlink carriers in aparticular frequency band, all downlink non-anchor carriers, allcarriers that are part of a predetermined group of carriers, allcarriers that are part of a group of carriers having a same radionetwork temporary identifier.
 5. The method as in claim 1, wherein anumber represented by the activation/deactivation message indicates theat least one carrier.
 6. The method as in claim 1, wherein a carriercarrying the activation/deactivation message indicates the at least onecarrier.
 7. The method as in claim 1, wherein theactivation/deactivation message comprises a predetermined order typethat indicates the at least one carrier.
 8. The method as in claim 1,wherein the activation/deactivation message is a shared control channelorder.
 9. The method as in claim 1, wherein the activation/deactivationmessage applies to carriers that are in a frequency band over which theactivation/deactivation message was received.
 10. The method as in claim1, wherein the activation/deactivation message comprises order typereuse with order mapping for indicating the at least one carrier. 11.The method as in claim 1, wherein the activation/deactivation commandinformation and carrier information is mapped to predetermined carriers.12. A method for handling discontinuous reception (DRX) or discontinuoustransmission (DTX) for multiple carriers, comprising: receiving DRX/DTXconfiguration parameters applicable to a predetermined group of themultiple carriers; and configuring for DRX/DTX operation.
 13. The methodas in claim 12, further comprising: receiving an activation/deactivationmessage; determining from the activation/deactivation message at leastone carrier from the multiple carriers; and acting on the at least onecarrier based on the activation/deactivation message.
 14. The method asin claim 12, wherein the activation/deactivation message is applicableto a group of the multiple carriers.
 15. A wireless transmit/receiveunit (WTRU) comprising: a receiver configured to receive anactivation/deactivation message, wherein the activation/deactivationmessage comprises activation/deactivation command information andcarrier information; a processor configured to determine from theactivation/deactivation message at least one carrier from the multiplecarriers; and the processor further configured to act on the at leastone carrier based on the activation/deactivation message.
 16. The WTRUas in claim 15, wherein carrier information is a carrier index.
 17. TheWTRU as in claim 15, wherein the activation/deactivation message appliesto a group of the multiple carriers.
 18. A wireless transmit/receiveunit (WTRU) comprising: a receiver configured to receive discontinuousreception (DRX)/discontinuous transmission (DTX) configurationparameters applicable to a predetermined group of the multiple carriers;and a processor configured to configure DRX/DTX operation.
 19. The WTRUas in claim 18, further comprising: the receiver further configured toreceive an activation/deactivation message; the processor furtherconfigured to determine from the activation/deactivation message atleast one carrier from the multiple carriers; and the processor furtherconfigured to act on the at least one carrier based on theactivation/deactivation message.
 20. The WTRU as in claim 18, whereinthe activation/deactivation message is applicable to a group of themultiple carriers.